Pregnancy Technique Tips

Pregnancy Technique Tips

Contents

In both planks and push-ups, the core is working hard to help you stabilize and maintain proper alignment. As your pregnancy progresses, the core muscles become more and more stretched, compromising their function. Working from your knees, using a small range of motion in the arms for push-ups, or standing at the barre, are effective and safe modifications that provide more stability to ensure proper alignment.

Rolling all the way up and down during teasers is uncomfortable and difficult for many pregnant clients. One modification option that provides more stability is grabbing lightly behind your thighs on the way up. Alternatively, we recommend sitting upright with your feet planted, take a light grip behind your thighs, and roll back 4 inches up 4 inches to mimic the larger range of motion in a teaser. Both of these options are safer and more effective throughout pregnancy, while still helping you maintain a strong and stable core.

As you progress through your pregnancy, your lowest / best form in Chairs may start to look a little bit different. You can have the same alignment - knees over ankles, shoulders over hips, proud chest - even if you work up in a slightly higher posture. The higher posture may help you feel more stable through your core, while still activating the same target muscles in the thighs and upper body. Alternatively, working upright, with your hands placed lightly on the barre for balance with no weight pulling off the barre, is an effective modification as well. Listen to your body and adjust as needed, remembering that one day may feel different than the next!

We often work the inner and outer thighs in a wide stance position, with our feet wider than our hips and toes turned out slightly. During your second and third trimesters, this wide stance may put uncomfortable pressure on your pelvis. If that's the case for you, we recommend working with your heels together toes apart instead. This narrower stance still targets the same major movers of your inner and outer thighs, without putting undue pressure on your pelvis.

Throughout pregnancy, it will become more and more difficult for you to brace through the core to maintain tucked hips in folded over positions in seat work. Once you feel the lack of engagement in your core, we recommend lifting your chest upright and scooting a bit closer to your support, so that your body makes a diagonal line. This allows you to keep your focus on contracting your seat muscles, while also being safer and more effective for your core.

In Pure Barre, we do abs on the back at both the beginning and end of class. Strengthening your core throughout pregnancy is beneficial; however, as your pregnancy progresses, certain ab positions may start to feel uncomfortable or heavy in your chest/lungs. We encourage you to 1) avoid lying flat on your back for prolonged periods of time, 2) avoid big rotations side to side and work to keep your range of motion small, and 3) listen to your own body and sit upright / take breaks as needed. Elevating your chest and listening to your own body will help make sure you are still targeting your core muscles, while doing so safely!

There are many benefits to including stretching in your regular exercise routine, including improved joint range of motion, better flexibility and lower likelihood of injury, even during pregnancy. Hormones released during pregnancy make your joints even more lax and flexible than normal, so but it's important pay a bit more attention to your range of motion and be mentally present during the stretch sections of your Pure Barre class. Be careful not to overstretch. If any stretches feel uncomfortable for you throughout class, listen to your body and adjust.

Many pregnant women experience changes in balance, stability and blood pressure throughout the course of their pregnancies. Even if your teacher is working to keep the pace of class fast, feel free to take breaks or move more slowly, especially when transitioning from working on the group to working upright. Before, during and after class, listen to your body and move at a pace that is comfortable for you!

Coming back to the studio postpartum looks different for every woman and for every pregnancy. Your doctor will give you permission to return to exercise at your postpartum appointment, which can range anywhere from 2 weeks after delivery up to about 10 weeks. Make sure you return to Pure Barre once you have your doctor's permission and once you're feeling ready! Listen to your body; do what feels good, and take small steps to get back to where you want to be over a period of several months. We encourage you to continue using your Pure Barre pregnancy modifications for the first 2-3 months back in the studio postpartum.

Strengthening the back during pregnancy is important for maintaining good posture and a stronger and stable core; the core muscles wrap around and are connected to the back muscles - visualize a cylinder - so we want to keep the cylinder intact and as strong and stable as it can be throughout your pregnancy to prepare for labor and delivery. However, bearing weight onto your midsection throughout pregnancy is contraindicated and should be avoided. Some other options to strengthen your back, without applying weight onto your front side, include 1) working in a quadraped position and extending opposite arm an leg, or 2) come to a kneeling posture and perform back squeeze-ins with light handweights.

Throughout pregnancy, your core muscles become more and more stretched out, and often times begin having a harder time staying engaged throughout the entire workout. Extensions in thigh work target the major movers of the thighs - quadriceps and hamstrings - while also engaging your lower abdominal muscles, chest and back. Avoid lifting your leg so high that you sit back into your hips and put pressure onto your lower back. Instead, keep your leg on the lower diagonal to help maintain your focus on contracting the thigh muscles!

Your center of gravity changes as your pregnancy progresses and the baby bump grows. Throughout the thigh and seat sections of Pure Barre, we incorporate a significant amount of positions that are built to challenge your balance. Your focus should be on fatiguing the target muscle groups for a given exercise, rather than focusing on a lack of balance and stability. So, two quick tips for you to try include 1) face your support and place both hands lightly on top of it for balance, and 2) work on low heels or flat feet instead of tippie toes.